Thomas Freeman was a very prominent citizen. He was one of the petitioners for the town of Harwich’s incorporation, the first town clerk and one of the first selectman of Harwich. He helped to found the first church in 1700 and was elected deacon 23 Nov 1700.

On Oct. 16, 1700, the church in Harwich consisting of eight persons was gathered and the following men signed the Church Covenant & the Confession of Faith:

On 25 Mar 1716, after the Death of Deacon FREEMAN, Mr. Thomas CROSBEY & Mr. Thomas LINCOLN were chosen by ye Chh, with ye concurrence of their Pastor to Succeed in that office.

At Deacon FREEMAN’s death was seven pounds overplus of ye contributions for ye Sacrament, the one half of which was returned to ye Chh, and the other given by them to his family

Harwich, Barnstable, Mass.

Harwich is situated on the southside of Cape Cod, with expansive white-sand beaches that run along Nantucket Sound, which is on average 10 degrees warmer than the open Atlantic Ocean on a typical summer day. Those who prefer freshwater will find a score of pristine kettlehole ponds, formed by the glaciers.

Harwich was first settled in 1670 as part of Yarmouth. The town was officially incorporated in 1694 and took its name from a town in England. The original settlement and first meetinghouse were located in what later became the North Parish, now Brewster. Early industry involved fishing and farming. The town is considered by some to be the birthplace of the cranberry industry, with the first commercial operation opened in 1846.

Local old-timers refer to those from Harwich as “Hairleggers.” While the origin for this unseemly term is somewhat foggy now, one theory points to the absence of socks on the town baseball team back in the 1800’s.

“Mr Paul Sears” lived on Quivet Neck, and was prominent in the church of the East precinct of Yarmouth, to which he was adm. Jun 23, 1728, and his wife Aug 6, 1727.

4 Aug 1724 – Paul Sears was one of Committee to inform Mr. Taylor of call to ministry;”

5 Oct 1725, one of Committee “to lay out meeting-house floor for pews;

24 Jun 1726, “to receive Mr. Dennis answer;”

16 Mar 1727, On Com. “on ordination of Mr. Dennis.”

I find no record of administration upon the estate of Paul Sears, and he perhaps divided his property before his death, but all early records in Reg. Deeds Barns. have been destroyed by fire.
He is buried by the side of his wife in the old family burying-ground at Bound Brook in West Brewster.

Their son Barnabas (1728-1808) was a matross in Capt. Abner Lowell’s artillery company from Jul 15 1776 to Dec 31 1776 serving in Falmouth and Cumberland counties, Maine. The duty of a matross was to assist the gunners in loading, firing and sponging the guns. They were provided with firelocks, and marched with the store-wagons, acting as guards. In the Continental army a matross ranked as a private of artillery.

Joshua was Constable of Harwich in 1745. He was a man of large stature, and of great strength and hardihood.
In 1746, he removed to Middletown, CT, and purchased land on the east side of the Conneticut river, in that part of town afterward set off as Chatham.

Daniel lived in the East precinct of Yarmouth, now East Dennis, and with his wife was admitted to the church there, May 16, 1742. Mar.7 1749, Daniel Sears on committee “to keep boys in order on the Sabbath day,” and again Mar. 22,1750-51. Dec. 16, 1760, appd. on committee to locate school.

Edmund Sears and his wife were admitted to the church in East Yarmouth, May 12, 1745. He was a sea captain during many years. It is related of him that at the time of the “Boston Tea Party,” he was unloading his vessel in the vicinity. He went on board the vessels and participated in throwing the tea overboard.

Upon his return to the Cape soon after, though he had been long absent from home, on entering the house he went straight to the “bowfat,” and without saying a word to any one, seized the teapot and caddy, and threw them into the garden with a crash. His astonished wife whispered to the children, “your poor father has come home crazy.” He then proclaimed that from that time henceforth none of his family were to drink tea, or wear any articles of British manufacture. His four sons were in the Revolutionary Army, but nevertheless, when a landing was threatened on the Cape, he mounted his horse and galloped to the spot to offer his services.

He set up the first chaise, and owned the first ingrain carpet in the town. His will, dated June 20, 1796, was witnessed by John Chapman, Peter Sears and Joseph Sears; a codicil bears no date. He mentions wife Hannah; daus. Mary Sears, Elizh. Homer, Jane Hallet, Temperance Clark and Hannah Sears; and sons Christopher, Elkanah, Edmund and Joshua.

After Hannah died, Thomas married 15 Oct 1741 Yarmouth to Bethiah Sears (1718 – 1788) Bethiah’s parents were Joseph Sears (1669 – 1750) and Hannah Hall (1682 – 1753) Thomas and Bethiah had three more children born between 1743 and 1748.

3. Thomas Freeman

Thomas’ first wife Bathsheba Mayo was born 23 Sep 1683 in Eastham, Barnstable, Mass. Her parents were Nathaniel Mayo (1652 – 1709) and Elizabeth Wixam (1660 – ). Bathsheba died in 1706 Eastham, Mass. Her grandparents were Nathaniel Mayo and Hannah Prence. Hannah later married our ancestor Jonathan SPARROW as his second wife.

Thomas’ second wife Mary Smith was born 24 May 1685 in Durham, Stafford New Hampshire. Her parents, James Smith and Sarah Davis were killed in King William’s War, her father in 1690 and her mother in the Oyster River Massacre 18 Jul 1694 in Durham, New Hampshire. Her grandparents were our ancestors Ensign John DAVIS and Jane PEASLEE (see their page for more details of the massacre.) After Thomas died, she married again aft. Mar 1717 in Eastham, Barnstable, Mass. to Hezekiah Doane (1672 – 1752) Mary died in 1732 Eastham, Barnstable, Mass.

The Story of Mary Smith

Most genealogies say Ensign John DAVIS(1621 – 1686) was killed at the Oyster River Massacre, he actually died a few years earlier, but the actual toll to his family is bad enough; daughter Sarah, son John Jr, daughter-in-law Elizabeth, grandson James and grandson Samuel all killed, two to four grandchildren carried off to Canada, one to live for fifty years as a French nun. Another son and grandson were killed by Indians in 1720 and 1724.

Did Mary escape or was she captured and taken to Canada? How did she get Mary get the 150 miles from New Hampshire to Harwich? Was the attack a treacherous massacre or justified act of war? I decided to make this post to share what I found out. Oyster River Massacre – 1694

Here’s a romanticized version I found where Thomas was a mariner who had business at Oyster River where he met Mary, fell in love and brought her home to the Cape to be married. I’m not sure of the author,but, I’ve updated a little of the florid 19th Century language and omitted incorrect details like their mother scooping babes Samuel and James into her arms since they were actually 11 and 13 years old.

In the days of the French and Indian Wars, the town of Durham, [today home to the University of New Hampshire], was called Oyster River. The scattered farmhouses were guarded by six or eight garrison houses. Nothing lay between the settlements and Quebec, but the unbroken wilderness known only to the Indians, the fur traders and the marauding war parties which were sent out against each other by Catholic Canada and Protestant New England.

Mary Smith lived at the Inn which was kept by her father James Smith and her mother Sarah Davis in Oyster River N.H. The people lived in constant terror of attack. Mary’s father was killed by the Indians, and Mary’s mother took her five children and moved into the garrison house near by with her brother Ensign John Davis.

July 18, 1694 some 200 Indians led by 20 French Canadians and 2 Catholic Priests burst, without warning, on the sleeping village. The garrison house of Ensign Davis, Mary’s Uncle, was quickly surrounded. One of the French leaders and a Catholic priest promised safety for him and his household if he surrendered. He took them at their word, realizing all too well, that alone he could not hold out long. The instant he unbolted the door, he was rushed upon by the Indians, tomahawked and scalped, together with is wife and two of their children while the two older girls were seized as captives. When Mary’s mother saw what was happening, she shouted for her children to run for their lives out the back door. Somehow, Mary, her sister Sarah, and brother John made their escape and hid in the woods. [Mary’s brothers James (1681 – 1694) and Samuel (1683 – 1694) were not so lucky.]

Twenty-eight of Mary’s closest relatives met death that morning. In all, 104 inhabitants were killed and 27 taken captive, with half the dwellings, including the garrisons, pillaged and burned to the ground. But Mary was not to be taken captive. In a few days Captain Tom Freeman from Cape Cod was heading his lumber schooner in toward Oyster River for a load of sawn boards. He found several frightened, bewildered people who told him of the massacre. He loaded no lumber that trip but began to search along the bank and in the woods for all those he could possibly save.

Among this group was our ancestor Mary Smith. She was taken to Tom Freeman’s father’s home which was in Harwich, Mass. Mary was reared and educated by those fine people and when she grew up she married the youthful sea captain who had rescued her – Captain John Freeman _ Mary Smith Freeman.

From the family Bible – we read in Mary’s own precise handwriting –

Mary Smith born May 24, 1685 Md Tom Freeman November 13, 1707

In a short ten years her husband was dead and she a widow at thirty-three with four little children. The final line of the record reads – My husband Thomas Freeman deceased March 22, 1718.

Mary’s sister Sarah came to Eastham to marry Joshua Harding in 1702. So a more likely scenario is that Mary came to visit, or even live, with Sarah and met Thomas then.

Hezekiah Doane was son of Ephraim Doane and Mercy Knowles. He first married to Hannah Snow, second to Mary Smith Freeman, widow of Thomas Freeman of Harwich. After Mary died, he married Mrs. Sarah Knowles of Eastham in 1744.

Hezekiah Doane appears as a surveyor of highways in Eastham in 1691 and 1692. He early resided in what is now Provincetown, where he was engaged in the whale fishery. He attended church at Truro where some of his children were baptized. On 15 May 1705 he and Samuel Treat, Jr., were admitted inhabitants of Pamet, now Truro, and on 01 Nov 1711, when a church was organized there with Rev. John Avery as pastor, Hezekiah Doane was chosen deacon and ruling elder. He was appointed a Justice of the Peace in 1710 and held the office many years, his name appearing as a Justice on old documents as late as 1736, at which time he was residing in Provincetown.

Here Lyes Ye Body Of Mr Thomas Freeman Who Dec’d March Ye 22d 1716/7 In Ye 41st Year Of His Age Old Burying Ground Brewster

The first census of Massachusetts, taken by order of Royal Governor Francis Bernard in 1765, enumerated a population of 678 for the farming and fishing community of Chatham in Barnstable County. In the autumn of 1765,Smallpox appeared in the town in its most virulent form and in a short time became epidemic. It raged throughout December 1765 and January 1766. In all 61 persons were attacked, of whom only 24 recovered. Over sixty per cent of those attacked died. The cases numbered nine per cent of the population. Isolated cases of the disease had previously appeared in the town from time to time among soldiers returning from frontier armies or sailors from the West Indies. Unusual precautions were always taken to prevent the spread of the dreaded disease, and in nearly every case it had been confined to the person or family first attacked.

The smallpox epidemic of 1765-66, according to contemporary reports, began in the family of Deacon Paul Crowell, a prominent citizen. One account stated that it emanated from a bale of cotton imported from the South and sold at a store near the residence of Reuben Rider, who contracted the disease. Another alleged that it was brought in with a package of clothing from the West Indies —garments washed in the house of Deacon Crowell.

Dr. Samuel Lord, the town’s physician, served unstintingly in caring for the sick
before falling victim himself and dying on January 12, 1766. Mr. Thomas Freeman, who lived at Harwich at the head of Pleasant Bay not far from the Chatham line, and was considered skillful in medicine, also caught the disease and died on January 19. Chatham historian C.W. Smith noted in 1917. “His gravestone may still be seen in the field at So. Orleans near where he lived.” The exact location of the gravestone and whether it exists today is not known.

Every known method of combating the disease was employed. Schools were closed, business abandoned, and the community was in a state of fear and consternation. Whole families were almost wiped out. Mr. John Rider and his wife, aged and well-to-do people, were taken away, their maiden daughter Bethiah, their son Zenas and his wife, their son Stephen, his wife and nine of his ten children and the wife of their son Reuben. Deacon Stephen Smith, his wife and two of his daughters died and other families lost two or three members each/

To avoid the danger of spreading the disease, the usual funeral services were omitted, and the bodies of the deceased were taken out by the members of the family and buried in the rear of their respective farms, where many of them lay buried today, their resting places being marked in some cases by substantial slate gravestones.

The plight of the Chatham people elicited sympathy from the neighboring towns of Harwich, Eastham and Yarmouth. Money was raised in several Cape Cod churches for assistance to the bereaved. Mr. John Hawes, of Chatham, was chosen to receive this money, and a committee, consisting of Messrs. John Young and Barnabas Eldredge and 3 selectmen, was designated to distribute these funds. Mr. Eldredge (and later Captain Joseph Doane) was appointed town agent to the General Court of the Colony to solicit additional recompense for the widowed, orphaned and infirm. A petition on behalf of the town, accompanied by written evidence from its selectmen, in 1768, was recognized by Court Statute two years later. This device remitted the sum of £98, s.7, d.9, from Province Tax monies for the year 1769, “for the Relief of Poor Persons and others, who were visited with the Small Pox in said town from the first of November 1765 to the first of August 1766.”

Some of these charges doubtless included the expense of demolishing houses to erase contagion. The executor of theestate of Hezekiah Eldredge, for example, charged off the following items: ‘House and Barn taken down of Necessity by reason of the Small Pox and appraised at £17.”

Following the Expulsion of the Acadians during the French and Indian War (1754–1763), Liverpool was founded by New England Planters (commercially organized settlers) as a fishing port in 1759, and was named after Liverpool in England – which also lies along its own Mersey River.

Liverpool was at first sympathetic to the cause of the American Revolution, but after repeated attacks by American privateers on local shipping interests and one direct attack on the town itself, Liverpool citizens turned against the rebellion. Ports on either side of Liverpool – Port Medway and Port Mouton – were almost continuously at the service of the Americans throughout the war.

On April 24, 1778, the HMS Blonde ran aground the French ship Duc de Choiseul in Liverpool Harbor. There was an exchange of cannon fire for over three hours. A number of the French crew were killed, drowned and wounded. The 100 remaining French crew were taken prisoner. The arms that were on the wrecked ship continued to attract American privateers over the following month. Consequently, on May 1, American privateers raided Liverpool, ravaging and pillaging a number of the houses and stores. Three weeks later, on May 21, the same privateers returned and tried to tow the wreck of the Duc de Choiseul out to sea. Cannon fire was exchanged by the British militia and the American privateers. The privateers continued to fire at the town for almost an hour.

After suffering three years of similar sporadic raids, the people of Liverpool, on June 2, 1779 built a battery for the artillery and on October 31 launched their own privateer vessel named Lucy to bring battle to their adversaries.

The most dramatic privateer raid occurred on September 13, 1780, when two American privateers captured the fort in the town and took some of the men prisoners. Simeon Perkins engineered the capture of one of the privateer captains, and arranged for the recovery of the fort and the release of the prisoners. Within a few hours “every thing [was] restored to its former Situation without any Blood Shed.” Liverpool was not bothered by privateers for the remainder of the war.

The town grew with the arrival of American colonial refugees known as Loyalists in 1783 Samuel died a month before the Loyalists arrived. From Simeon Perkins Diary:

[1783] 4 Apr. Fri. : Samuel Freeman, Esq. died in night. *… 16 Apr. Wed. : Capt. Joseph Freeman is taken ill. 5 May Mon. : A sloop arrives from New York, bound to Halifax. They report that 570 families of refugees are sailed from New York for this province, Port Roseway (Shelburne), I suppose. They say the cessation (of hostilities) took place the 3rd of April. 7 May Wed. : Two small schooners from Halifax with people for Roseway came in here in the night.

Elisha Freeman went to Liverpool, Nova Scotia around 1760. Freeman owned a sawmill there. Through the years the family expanded their timberland holdings and lumbering industry and became one of the most prominent families in Liverpool Township. He was the first town clerk for Liverpool and also served as a justice of the peace. In 1764, he was named a justice in the Inferior Court of Common Pleas for Queen’s County. Freeman was also named a judge of probate in the same year. He resigned his seat in the provincial assembly in October 1767 due to age.

I don’t think Thomas Prence’s son-in-law [and Samuel’s great grandfather] John FREEMAN is closely related to Samuel Freman. On the other hand Elisha’s in-laws, Nathaniel Freeman and Mary Howland were Samuel Freeman’s great uncle and great aunt.

After Jonathan died, she married second Isaac Cushman Jr. (1676 -1727) and had four more children born between 1718 and 1722. Isaac’s parents were Isaac Cushman Sr and Rebecca Harlow. His grandparents were Thomas CUSHMAN Sr. and Mary ALLERTON. Isaac and his first wife Sarah Warner Gibbs (1683 – 1716) had six previous children born between 1705 and 1715. Mercy died 27 Jun 1738 Plymouth, Mass.

Mercy’s father Major John Bradford was the eldest of ten children of Maj. William Bradford and his wife Alice Richards. He was the grandson of Gov. William Bradford of the Mayflower.

John married Mercy Warren on Jan. 6, 1673/74 in Plymouth. She was the daughter of Joseph and Priscilla (Faunce) Warren, and the granddaughter of Richard Warren of the Mayflower. John and Mercy shared common ancestors as do we in Alexander CARPENTER and Priscilla DILLON, who were the father and mother-in-law of Gov. William Bradford.

John inherited Gov. William Bradford’s precious manuscript, “Of Plimouth Plantation,” one of the most important documents of early American history. He passed it down to his son Samuel. At some point, the work was loaned to Rev. Thomas Prince who was using it as a reference for his own book that he was writing. He kept it in his library in Boston’s Old South Church. The British, who occupied the Old South Church during the Revolution, then got hold of it. Later it turned up in the Bishop of London’s palace and was only returned to the state of Massachusetts, after some negotiation, in 1897.

Major Bradford was prominent in civic affairs. He was not only a military leader, but served as representative to the First General Court at Boston and helped to incorporate Plymouth as a separate town.

Major John Bradford Homestead. 50 Landing Road in Kingston, Massachusetts was built in 1714. The Jones River Village Historical Society is located in the house. The house served as the Bradford’s homestead for sixty-two years and was lived in continuously until it was purchased by the Jones River Village Club, predecessor to the current historical society, in 1921.

Maj. Bradford’s home in Kingston, built in 1675, is still standing and open to the public today. According to tradition, the Indians attempted to burn John’s house during King Philip’s War. The Major discovered the fire. He spied an Indian on Abrams Hill waving a blanket and shouting to his fellows, and shot him. But on approach, he could not find the body. After the war, the Indian met Bradford and showed him the scars of his wound.

Edmund’s wife Phebe Watson was born in 1681 Plymouth, Mass. Phebe’s sister Mary married Edmond’s brother Joseph. Their parents were Elhanah Watson (1656 -1690) and Mercy Hodges (~1656 – 1721). Her mother was the daughter of our ancestor William HEDGE.Phebe died in 1647.

Mercy was still under age when both her parents died and on 4 July 1673 the court at Plymouth Colony; authorized Lt. Thomas Howes of Yarmouth, son of our ancestor Thomas HOWES as Guardian of “Marcye Hedge” [Mercy Hedges]. Her father Elkanah died in a shipwreck off the shore of Boston on Feb 8, 1690. According to Savage, he was drowned in company with the second Edward Doty and his son John, by shipwreck. on the Gurnet’s Nose, in a passage from his Boston home. After Elkanah died, her mother Mercy married Edmund’s uncle John Freeman as his second wife. Phebe died before 22 Mar 1748/49 in Harwich, Barnstable, Mass

Boston News-Letter (MA), March 20, 1746, p. 1:

On the 10th instant died at Harwich, Edmund Freeman, Esq; aged about 66. He was Colonel of a Regiment in the County of Barnstable ; and representatives for the town of Harwich

Hannah died four days after her only child Freeman Lothrop was born. The next year, Isaac married 9 Sep 1731 Plymouth to Priscilla Thomas (1706 – 1796) and had five more children. Priscilla had first married John Watson (1678 – 1731).

Isaac was Justice of the Court of Common Pleas He possessed a
large estate, and transacted extensive business in the mercantile line.

Joseph’s second wife Mary Watson was born about 1688. Mary’s sister Phebe married Joseph’s brother Edmund. Their parents were Elhanah Watson (1656 – ) and Mercy Hodges (1650 – 1721). (See above for the parent’s shipwreck story.) Mary first married Nathaniel Freeman (1683 – 1735) and had five children born between 1712 and 1721. He was Joseph’s first cousin, his parents were John Freeman and Sarah Merrick and grandparents John FREEMAN and Mercy PRENCE. Nathaniel’s step mother Mercy Hedge, was the daughter of William HEDGE, yet another example of how the early settlers of Cape Cod were a close knit group.

Joseph was Selectman, Justice of the Peace and Captain of the Train Band.

About 1755 Joseph, Rebecca and family removed to “The Oblong” now Putnam County, New York. On Aug 1, 1755 they were dismissed from the First Church of Harwich to the pastoral care of Rev. Mr. James Kniblow in Oblong.